Button-feeding machine.



H. HASTINGS.

BUTTON FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION ElLED FEB.24. 19I4.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

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H. HASTINGS.

BUTTON FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, I914.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

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HERBERT HASTINGS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 GERMAN-AMERICAN BUTTON COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BUTTON-FEEDING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT HASTINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certam new and useful Improvements in Button- Feeding Machines, of which the followmg is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine that will facilitate inspectlon of buttons or button blanks or the inspection of the stock pieces from which the buttons are to be made.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine that will select the blanks from a hopper of blanks and in making the selection, will place the blanks in a uniform position and will deliver the blanks from the selecting mechanism to a carrying mechanism, uniformly in the original position or uniformly in an inverted position if so desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a controlling device by which the position of the buttons when delivered, may be changed at will. 7

These and other objects of my invention will be fully illustrated in the drawings, described in the specification and pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1..

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the machine looking at it from the right in Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a horizontal section on the line 4P1 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an inclined section taken on the line 5 -5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a section through an empty pocket on the line 8 -8 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8 8 of Fig. 5, showing a button in place in the pocket.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9 9" of Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a modification of the machine as shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal section on the line 11 11 of Figs. 1 and 2.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

Application filed February 24, 1914. Serial No. 820,523.

In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals indicate like parts.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the frame of the machine supported by the legs 2 and 3. Mounted on the legs is a bracket 4: on which is mounted to rotate the shaft 5 having a cone pulley 6 thereon on one end and a flat 'pulley 7 on the other end thereof. From the fiat pulley 7 extends a belt 8 which engages with a pair of pulleys 9 and 10, one of which is keyed to the shaft 11 and rotates therewith and the other rotates idly thereon. On theopposite end of the shaft 11 is the beveled gear 12 which meshes with the beveled gear 18 mounted on the shaft 14: on which shaft is carried the pinion 15 which engages with the gear ring 16 carried on the dial or pocket ring 17 which gear and which ring revolve in the stationary disk 18 by which they are supported.

'The gear ring 16 and the pocket ring 17 and disk 18 are mounted in the hopper 19. The ring 17 is provided wit-h a series of pockets 20, each large enough and deep enough to hold a single button when the button is placed in it with its sharp side down. It will be understood that buttons or button blanks usually are sharp and flat or concave on one side and rounded or convex on the other side and when the button presents its convex side to the pocket, it will slide out as the ring rotates and lifts it because the pocket cannot hold it but if the button presents its sharp side to the pocket, it will catch on the edge of the L pocket and be carried up by the ring. The pockets are only made deep enough to hold the buttons when the sharp edge of the button is presented thereto and is not deep enough to hold the button when the round ed edge is presented thereto. It will also be noted that each of the pockets is beveled on one side and has its other side left straight as is shown in Figs. 5, 8 and 8 The ring 17 is also provided with ribs 21 which ;are arranged tangentially to a common circle and which, as shown in Fig. 5, are only half as numerous as the pockets but may be of any desired number and the number of them may be of any desired ratio to the number of the pockets.

It will be understood that the ring 17 sets in the hopper at an inclination of about 45 as is indicated at the top of Fig. 1., the disk 18 being shown in that figure. The

hopper 19 is kept about half full of buttons or nearly so and as the ring 17 rotates, the

buttons are carried up by the pockets 20 and the tangential ribs 21. The buttons that are in the pockets 20 pass out at the top through an opening 23 into a chute 24. Buttons that are carried up by the ribs 21 pass on around with the ribs remaining near the inner edge thereof until the outer ends of the ribs begin to point downward when they run by gravity out to the peengages with the annular seat 25 carried on the-stationary disk 18 on which it is adapted to rotate. The annular'seat 25 at the top is provided with a rib 26 which extends around the upper half of the seat and closes the openings between the inner ends of the ribs 21 so that the buttons cannot pass down between the ribs but will be carried up instead. The rib 26 is omitted from the lower half of the circle so that the buttons can pass in or out between the inner ends of the ribs 21. The ends of the ribs 26 and the ribs 21 are beveled so as not to injure the buttons.

l/Vhen the buttons leave the pockets 20, they pass through the opening 23 and into the chute 24. This chute is shown in side elevation in Fig. 2, and at its lower end is forked and is provided with separate passage ways 27 and 28. At the top is provided the valve 29 which can be set to the one side or the other, the handle being provided on the outside of the chute for moving this valve. The buttons will al wvays rest in the pockets 20 with the sharp side down and as the button approaches the opening 23,'the forward edge of it drops down through the opening 23, so as to be presented edgewise into the chute 24, the opening 23 sloping in that direction. The position of the button in the chute 24 as indicated in Fig. 3, would be with the sharp edge to the right. If the valve 29 is in the position shown in Fig. 2, the button will pass down the left hand opening and be delivered at the bottom with the sharp edge up. If the valve 29 is set in the other position, the button will pass down through the opening 27 and be delivered at the bottom with the sharp edge down. The chute 24 is provided at the bottom with the guards 61 and 62 which check the buttons in their rapid descent and hold them on the belt.

At the bottom of the chute is placed the endless conveyer 30 onto which the buttons are delivered. This belt is shown in cross section in both Figs. 9 and 10 and in plan in Fig. 4, and in side elevation in Fig. 1. The belt is supported on a raised platform 31 having the sloping sides 32 sloping both Ways from the belt. A plate 33 may be interposed between the belt and the raised platform. This plate'has the flange 35 thereon, the flange being cut away at 36 to permit the passing of the buttons from the side of the belt. This" plate is shown in Fig. 10, and would be used only where the buttons were to be divided into two classes but where the buttons are to be divided into three or more classes, the plate would be omitted and the sides of the belt would b left open as shown in Fig. 9.

On each side of the raised platform 31 areprovided chutes37, 38, 39 and 40 into which the buttons may be swept by the fingers of the operator as the buttons are carried along by the belt and such buttons as remain on the belt, pass on into the chute 41 at the end. The belt 30 is carried on the pulleys 42 and 43, the shaft 44 being provided to support the pulley 4 3. The pulley 42 is keyed to the shaft 11 and is driven thereby.

On the machine is pivotally mounted the lever 45 by which the driving belt 8 ma be shifted between pulleys 9 and 10. The pivot for this lever is provided at 46.

On the frame of the machine are provided the brackets 47 and 48 on which are carried the receptacles 49 and 50, etc., which receive the buttons from the chutes 37, 38, 39 and 40 and near the bottom of the machine is supported the receptacle 51 which receives the buttons from the chute 41.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

Buttons are thrown into the hopper 19 from which they are carried up by the ring 17, the buttons resting in the pockets'20 of the ring and the pockets being filled either directly-from the mass of buttons in the bottom of the hopper or by having the buttons fed into the pockets by the ribs 21. The buttons pass from the pockets into the chute 24 and are delivered on the belt 30 with their backs or facesup according to the setting of the valve 29 and as the buttons are carried along by the belt, th eyare exposed to the operator who can brush them oifinto the hopper chutes according to the quality of the'button, buttons that are off colored going into one chute, buttons having pits or depressions therein, going into another chute and the perfect buttons or the highest grade, going into another chute or off the end of the belt as may be desired.

To keep the buttons in the hopper 19 at a uniform level an auxiliary hopper 6,0 is

provided which feeds into the hopper 22 through an opening at the bottom of the hopper and a little above the level of the buttons that will .be maintained thereby in the hopper 22.

It sometimes happens that two buttons get jammed together in the chute 2i usually at the bottom and the succeeding buttons pile on top of them and clog the chute. It

is necessary to clear the chute and to permit this to be done the front side is hinged at 67 so that it can be swung away. The buttons will then be removed and the chute will then be closed for further operation. The machine will be stopped while the chute is being cleaned.

While this machine is described as amachine for working on buttons and button blanks, these terms are used only for convenience, it being understood that the machine can be used for feeding any other substances on which it will work in substantially the same manner.

I claim:

1. In a machine for feeding buttons the combination of a hopper having a stationary bottom, a thin dial mounted to rotate on top of said bottom, pockets in said dial having a diameter of several times their depth adapted to engage with the sharp edge of a button blank and carry the blank up with the flat side of the blank lying against the stationary bottom, said pockets being opened at the bottom, an opening in said stationary bottom, said opening being in line with said pockets in said dial.

2. In a machine for feeding buttons the combination of a hopper having a stationary bottom, a dial mounted to rotate on top of said bottom, pockets extending through said dial adapted to engage with the sharp edge of a button blank and carry it up, said pockets being opened at the bottom, an opening in said stationary bottom, said opening being in line with said pockets in said dial, means for deflecting buttons into said pockets on the rotation of said dial.

3. In a machine for feeding buttons the combination of a hopper having an inclined stationary bottom, a dial rotating in said bottom, pockets in said dial having a thin beveled edge, said pockets being opened at the bottom, means for ejecting the button blanks through the bottom of said pocket, means for selecting a number of button blanks out of said hopper on the rotation of said dial and deflect one of the selected blanks in each of said pockets.

4. In a machine for feeding buttons, the combination of a dial havlng pockets extending therethrough, ribs on said dial leading to said pockets, said ribs being tangential to a common Circle and bein d t ed to raise buttons on the rotation of the dial and deflect them into the pockets.

ribs arranged tangentially to a common.

circle extending inwardly from the pockets and integral with said, dial to pick up but ton blanks on one side of said dial and defleet part of these blanks to the outside of said dial and means to release the rest of these blanks to fall back toward the inside of said dial.

6. In a machine for feeding buttons the combination of a hopper, a dial rotating in said hopper, said dial having openings there in which operate to pick up buttons from said hopper, an opening in said hopper to which said buttons are carried by said dial, said buttons dropping through said opening after passing through an opening of said dial, one edge of said opening being inclined in the direction ofrotation of said dial to cause the buttons to slide with the forward edge down over said edge.

7 In a machine for feeding buttons the combination of a hopper, a dial rotating in said hopper, said dial having openings therein which operate to pick up buttons from said hopper, an opening in said hopper to which said buttons are carried by said dial, said buttons dropping through said opening after passing through an opening of said dial, one edge of said opening being inclined in the direction of rotation of said dial to cause the buttons to slide with the forward edge down over said edge, a chute below said opening through which the buttons pass edgewise.

8. In a button feeding machine the combination of a dial, pockets in said dial, said pockets being formed blunt on one side and pockets being formed blunt on one side and being formed with a beveled edge on the opposite side, the blunt side being toward the rim of the dial and the beveled side being toward the center of the dial.

10. In a button feeding machine the combination of a dial, pockets in said dial, said pockets being formed blunt n one side and being formed with a beveled edge on the opposite side, the blunt side being toward the rim of the dial and the beveled side being toward the center of the dial, ribs on said dial extending from certain ones of said pockets inward tangentially.

11. In a button feeding machine the combination of a chute, means for feeding buttons to said chute with the front of each button pointed uniformly in the same direction, means in said chute for delivering the buttons uniformly face up or inverted at the end of the chute as may be desired.

12. In a button feeding machine the combination of a hopper provided with means for delivering buttons uniformly therefrom with either side up and a traveling belt, means for continuously selecting buttons from said hopper and means for placing them uniformly on the belt, said means including a chute through which the buttons pass edgewise and from which they drop sidewise on the belt.

13. In a button feeding machine the combination of a hopper and a traveling belt, means for continuously selecting buttons from the hopper and placing them uniformly on the belt in eithe upright or inverted position as may be desired,

14:. In a button feeding machine the combination of a hopper, a dial working in said hopper to lift buttons therefrom an auxiliary hopper mounted at the side of and above the first named hopper, an opening between the two hoppers near the bottom of the auxiliary hopper.

15. In a button feeding machine, the combination of a belt, a chute suspended over the belt and having two passages therein with a. valve between them, said passages being adapted to deliver buttons uniformly therefrom to said beltin a single row with either side up, the position of the buttons or delivery being determined by the position of the valve and a guard on said chute adapted to hold buttons fed thereby from moving sidewise off the belt.

16. In a machine for feeding butons the combination of a dial with pockets extending therethrough near the periphery thereof, ribs arranged tangential to a common circle on said dial in a ring extending inwardly from said pockets, a stationary circular rib extending through said dial, said rib cooperating with said tangential ribs on the rotation of the dial to hold buttons between the ribs and cause them to be carried over the vertical center of the dial.

17 In a machine for feeding buttons the Copies 01. this patent may be obtained for combination of a dial with pockets extending thcrethrough near the periphery thereof, ribs arranged tangential to a common circle on said dial in a ring extending inwardly from said pockets, a stationary circular rib extending through said dial, said rib cooperating with said tangen ial ribs on the rotation of the dial tohold buttons between the ribs and cause them to be carried over the vertical center of the dial, said ribs bein inclined forward on the dial causing the buItons to move outwardly on the dial after they have passed the vertical center thereof.

18. In a button feeding machine the combination of a stationarv hopper having an Inclined bottom, said bottom having a circular channel cut therein, a ring mounted to rotate in said channel, pockets in said ring to pick up button blanks on the rotation of said ring.

19. In a button feeding machine the combination of a stationary hopper having an inclined bottom, said bottom having a -circular channel cut therein, a ring, mounted to rotate in said channel, pockets in said ring to pick up button blanks on the rotation of said ring, means to deflect the button blanks into said pockets.

20. In a button feeding machine the combination of a stationary hopper having an inclined bottom, said bottom having a circular channel cut therein, a ring mounted to rotate in said channel, pockets in said ring to pick up button blanks on the rotation of said ring, means to deflect the button blanks into said pockets, a stationary guard concentric with said ring on said inclined bottom to prevent the picked up button blanks from falling back during a part of the travel of said ring.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT HASTINGS. lVitnesses RALPH J. SEXTON, MILTON NoYEs.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Batents, Washington, D. 0. 

